The invention relates to the use of amines as bleaching efficiency boosters for textile detergent compositions and to bleach and textile detergent compositions containing these.
It is known that the bleaching effect of peroxy compounds, peracids and combinations of peroxy compounds with peracid-liberating activators used as bleaches can be enhanced by adding bleaching efficiency boosters or bleach catalysts. Examples of metal-free bleach catalysts employed are iminium salts, sulfone imines and N-sulfonyloxaziridines.
EP-B1-0 313 146 gives a general description of the use of secondary amines of the formula
(C6-20-hydrocarbyl)(C1-20-hydrocarbyl)NH
in amounts of 1-10% by weight as additional softening agent in detergent compositions which contain a bleach and a bleach activator.
EP-A3-0 236 270 gives a general description of aliphatic secondary amines in amounts of 1-10% by weight as foam generators or surface-active compounds in conjunction with a specific bleach and bleach activators in speckles.
JP-A-07197097 describes bleach compositions which contain a peroxide of the oxygen type, a bleach activator based on acyloxyanilide derivatives and one or more amines, amine salts or quaternary ammonium salts in an amount of at least 1% by weight. In this case, the amines can be the hydrophilic secondary amines diethanolamine, ethanolmethylamine, diisopropanolamine or N-methylaniline.
The compositions are used for bleaching dyed textiles, the intention being to avoid loss of color from the dyeing.
JP06248295 describes bleach compositions which have a long shelf life and high bleaching efficiency and avoid loss of color from textiles. The compositions contain peroxides and a salt consisting of a bleach activator and an aromatic peracid precursor anion and a quaternary ammonium ion in an amount of at least 0.7% by weight, which can be derived from the hydrophilic secondary amines diethanolamine, diisopropanolamine and dimethylamine.
EP-A-0 173 398 describes detergent compositions which are able to clean and soften textiles in a washing liquid. It is possible to use as essential textile softening ingredients a mixture of a long-chain secondary amine with cellulase. Dilaurylamine, distearylamine and tallow-methylamine are described as usable, in an amount of from 0.5 to 15% by weight, preferably 1 to 10% by weight, particularly preferably 2 to 5% by weight. The detergent compositions may contain bleaches and bleach activators.
DD 129 565 describes detergent compositions which contain antiredeposition agents. It is possible to use as antiredeposition agent ricinoleic acid ethanolamide in an amount of 5 parts by weight, in conjunction with sodium borate perhydrate. Also described as suitable are dodecylethanolamine, hexadecylethanolamine and oleic acid ethanolamide in an amount of from 1 to 5 parts by weight.
WO 86/07603 describes detergents for low washing temperatures which contain as detergency-boosting additive an aliphatic amine compound. The amnido amines listed may be secondary amines, but only tertiary amines are used in the described detergents, in amounts of more than 1% by weight, with or without the presence of bleaches and bleach activators.
EP-A-0 315 204 describes cyclic secondary amines as quenchers for singlet oxygen. They are employed in a bleach, in addition to a compound containing active halogen, in an amount of from 0.5 to 40% by weight, preferably 2.0 to 30% by weight. A bleach detergent composition may contain from 0.1 to 30% by weight of the cyclic hindered secondary amine, with the amount in the exemplary formulations being at least 5 parts by weight.
EP-A3-0 349 153 describes aromatic secondary amines as radical scavengers for free radicals in liquid hydrogen peroxide compositions which contain no activator.
WO 95/33035 describes detergent compositions which contain oleoyl-sarcosinate and a surface-active amine. Preferably employed as surface-active amine are primary or tertiary amines. Secondary amines with two long-chain alkyl radicals are disclosed. The compositions are described as particularly effective for removing fatty or oily soilings.
EP-A1-0 026529 describes detergent compositions which also act as softeners. They may contain a cationic secondary amine. Examples indicated are coco-methylamine in an amount of 2% by weight and laurylbenzylamine.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a bleaching efficiency booster for bleach or textile detergent compositions.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a bleaching efficiency booster which is effective at low temperature.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a bleaching efficiency booster which is suitable for bleaching hydrophobic and/or hydrophilic soilings on textiles.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a bleach or textile detergent composition containing a bleach and a bleaching efficiency booster and having an improved bleaching effect.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a bleach or textile detergent composition which shows an improved bleaching effect at low temperature.
It is another object to provide a bleach or textile detergent composition which improves the removal of hydrophobic and/or hydrophilic soilings on textiles.
It is another object to provide a bleach or textile detergent composition which comprises a bleaching system and at least one enzyme, with the bleaching system adversely affecting the action of the enzyme only slightly or not at all.
We have found that these and other objects are achieved by using amines as bleaching efficiency boosters for textile detergent compositions, where the pKa of the amines is greater than the pH minus 1, preferably greater than the pH, particularly preferably at least 0.5 greater than the pH of the 1% by weight wash liquor obtained from the textile detergent composition, and by bleach or textile detergent compositions comprising these bleaching efficiency boosters.
We have found that the claimed amines enhance the bleaching effect of bleach compositions and textile detergent formulations. In particular, they enhance the bleaching effect of bleach or textile detergent compositions containing peroxy compounds or peracids, especially for hydrophobic/lipophilic stains on textiles and also for hydrophilic, lipophobic stains.
The bleaching efficiency-boosting effect with the claimed amines makes it possible to use the bleach or textile detergent compositions at low temperatures, in particular in the range up to a maximum of 40xc2x0 C., at which bleach compositions often show inadequate effectiveness. The bleaching efficiency-boosting effect of the amines according to the invention may moreover be further increased by adding suitable bleach activators, with or without additional bleach-stabilizing additives.
The use of the amines according to the invention in the bleach or textile detergent compositions leads to only very little, or no, adverse effect on the action of enzymes which are likewise present, for example proteases. Known bleach systems generally have a marked adverse effect on the activity of enzymes.